Ellanora's Story
by Christiana Aisling
Summary: What would the Story be like if things where a little different. The prince could love two people at the same time, or is it only one person who acts as two?


          The day that Ellanora Xavier's father married Claudette fa Namiz could very well have been the worst day in her life.  Ellanora (Ella as her father and a few others called her) was 15 at the time and was quite content with it just being her and her father.  Now not only did she have a new stepmother, she also had two horrid stepsisters.  They were twins, Alessandra and Adeline fa Namiz.  Since they had a "fa" in their last name it somehow meant they were nobles.  Because of this, they always insisted on being referred to with their last names. 

 Ella knew that the only reason they had the "fa" in their last name was because their mother was at one point very beautiful (although this was a VERY long time ago, she still insisted that she didn't look a day older than 18) and during this time met a young gentleman named Michel fa Namiz.  He was French and spoke no English but was very handsome and made the mistake of introducing himself to Claudette as Michel fa Namiz.  Since she knew he was a nobleman she was very kind to him and showed him around England.  He asked her to marry him not long after only because he was not a very strong man and he wanted and heir to his land and wealth.  He was almost 40 at the time and Claudette was only 23.  She accepted and failed to produce him and heir but instead had Alessandra and Adeline.  Shortly after the birth of the twins Michel died.  He left to his widow and children his land and wealth but since during this time women could not own land, it was taken away along with most of the money.  They moved back to England where they lived in a small apartment for much of their life. 

 Claudette was starting to panic however.  She had little money left for although the money she had been left with should have sustained them until the girls were married and Claudette died, she has spoiled the twins.  And unfortunately, her beauty had not been passed on to her daughters.  They may have been able to be beautiful if they had not acted so haughty all the time, walking around with their noses pointed to the sky, for their beauty was a plain beauty similar to that of Ella's where if you dressed simply you would shine.  Their mother however insisted that they always were to wear the most elegant dresses of silk and velvet available and have the most beautiful hairstyles and nicest dyes.  After so many years of it the twins were starting to tire of it.  They wanted to be simple and not have to worry about how they dressed.  Neither of them was about to admit it, though.  They were to stuck in the ways that had been pressed upon them by Claudette.

So it happened that the day Ella got a new horrid stepmother she also got two horrid stepsisters.  How could anyone have a day worse than that.  Seeing her father getting married and seeing the wedding gown reminded her of the stories she had heard of her parents from before she had been born.  Both of her real parents were very highly thought of.  Her father was a merchant who was kind to anyone and everyone (although this may have been his downfall with Claudette) Although he was not a noble in name he was known across all of England as the noblest man around because he was always honest and never took advantage of anyone and he would even allow people to purchase on credit.  Her mother had been Raina fa Serena.  Although she had at one point been promised to the prince of England himself she had called off the wedding when she met Jonathan Xavier.  The day they married was the nicest day of the year.  Not a cloud in the sky, nice and warm, and a wonderful breeze that made her mother's auburn hair wave gently.  Ella hardly remembered her mom except that she was kind and had the voice of an angel.  And of course that she had the same auburn hair as Ella herself had.  Raina had died when Ella was only 4.  Her father was gone almost that whole year because he was so sad.  Ella knew that her face still reminded him of her mothers.

That night after the wedding was horrible.  Ella, Alessandra, and Adeline had all been bridesmaids.  They had not had special dresses made for them however as most people did.  Instead they were only asked to wear their nicest gowns.  Ella suspected that this was because she knew that Ella's gowns where not nearly as fine as Alessandra's and Adeline's.  Ella's dress was a tunic the lovely color of the sky on a nice clear day over a cream under gown with long sleeves that came out a little at the ends.  It had little embroidery on it and was not amazingly complex.  She also wore her hair down with a few small blue flowers tucked in behind her ears.  She looked beautiful.  Alessandra had on a green silk dress that did nothing for her complexion for she had tanner skin and blue eyes and dark blonde hair and the green made her look very odd.  It also had too many ruffles for the small woman and made her look short and stubby.  Adeline's gown was pink velvet that made her pale face even paler looking.  It was too tight on her slightly overweight body and made her look fat when a plain dress wouldn't.  It also made her brown hair stand out far too much for it was done with so many curls and twists that it looked like a bird's nest.  

Since Claudette had little friends and no family, most of the guests were friends of Ella's father, and the guests favored Ella.  They told her how lovely she looked and how they missed her and even had two women come over and try to convince her to meet their sons because they thought the two would be a perfect match.  This made Ella's new stepsisters very angry.  They wanted attention and they thought that they should marry before Ella because they were fa Namizes.  Alessandra and Adeline decided that they would never let Ella look as beautiful as she had that night.  They would think of some way to get all of her beautiful clothes and other nice things away so that they would get more attention and Ella would not marry first.  They also decide to ask their mother for help because they knew she would agree.


End file.
